Do we have a problem with Sheffield Wednesday fans and their club?

[Morse]

A neighbour is a Wednesday fan and is going to the promotion final at Wembley this weekend.
He is very sympathetic to what happened and is very glad that at long last, justice has prevailed for some.

He did say something odd though...he thinks that Liverpool fans have a massive problem with SW fans and their club. He suggests that there will be bad blood (coming from our side) next year if they come up.
I was surprised at this and we discussed this over a pint last night.
(I believe that there was an issue with an out of date safety certificate etc...perhaps this is what he means).

He says that there are 96 white seats at the front of the Leppings Lane stand that never get used but he is sad that the stand hasn't been knocked down...no money.

He also says that their decline was pretty much soon after the disaster and it is an indication of their grief/guilt over the whole day.

We agreed that the fault lies squarely on the police and politicians of the time...but he still has a worry that we take issue with them.

Thoughts please?

[CJ]

Well they are the club I want to get promoted so I don't have a problem with them.

It's not something I have heard much about to be honest. Maybe proper scourers will know more.

[Liverpool]

It's in their heads tbh. I don't think most hold it against their club/fans and most have glowing stories of help received from the people of Sheffield. I think they don't like the fact it happened at their ground but the anger has always been aimed at police/government.

[EwarWoo]

I think it's Shef United we hate? Though I'm not sure why TBH, think it was more about Warnock.

Also not a local so could be off the mark.

[fah-q]

I know a number of Wednesday fans and I've never had a problem with them. They've always expressed sympathy over Hillsborough and were overjoyed when justice finally prevailed.

I think any real football fan feels the same way regardless of their loyalty. Fans who might mock us over other things such as Gerrard's slip, etc have mostly shown their support for the justice campaign. From my experience the ones who use human tragedy to score points aren't real football fans.

[Exiled_red]

It's in their heads tbh. I don't think most hold it against their club/fans and most have glowing stories of help received from the people of Sheffield. I think they don't like the fact it happened at their ground but the anger has always been aimed at police/government.

I think there has been some 'uncomfortable feelings' because of this but I don't think it's a problem. The only thing I can think that people might perceive as a problem was the time it took for them to have a memorial, but they have had one for a few years now IIRC, and that was an issue with the club rather than the fans/people of Sheffield - I think I read somewhere that the people of Sheffield had some memorial in the area before the clubs did.

[red g]

Used to live in Sheffield for a few years....Wednesday fans on a whole are a well sound bunch....The Blades and fans are like the Bitters imo.

[Kenneth]

I live very close to the ground and from living and working in the city for 20 years I haven't come across real ******y. Until recently, the myth of the fans being drunk was prevalent, but this was everywhere I guess. Most Wednesday fans I've talked to thought the stand should have been bulldozed at the time.

I have not spoken to anyone since the verdict who didn't accept the judgement and findings.

[Shaggy]

No beef with the club or the fans. I've encountered some very defensive and downright nasty Wednesday fans, but they're clearly morons.

And agreed - never liked Sheff Utd, they are the small-time set of fans, like Everton.

Hope Wednesday hammer Bruce and get promoted tomorrow.

[Mark79]

The 2 clubs were in the same league throughout the 90's and I don't remember any particular bad feeling towards their fans then, so don't see why there'd be any now if they come back up.

As for their decline, I know Sheffield Wednesday got relegated the season following Hillsborough.

But then they came straight back up and I'd of thought the early 90's was their most successful period in recent times - a league cup win, a third place finish, contested a cup double in 93.

Not saying he's wrong, but as I remember they only really started to struggle in the later part of the 90's before getting relegated in 2000.

[Jaymo]

Never heard a bad word said about Wednesday or their fans. Someone hit the nail on the head before when they said that they probably feel awful about the events that took place in their back yard and possibly feel to blame.

But the anger has always been directed at the police/government. At the end of the day, the police (the ones supposedly in charge) were to blame, and then the government for allowing the cover up. Not once do I recall any anger towards Wednesday or their fans.

I do however feel there will be some animosity towards South Yorkshire Police if Wednesday end up in the Premier League because we will have to play them at Hillsborough at some point in the season.

[frank the tank]

Sheffield Wednesday didn't manage the stadium correctly either. Whoever managed their stadium was grossly negligent. But the cover up afterwards is the real scandal.

So at the time, I believe that officials at SWFC would have known 100% full well that it wasn't the fault of drunken fans in any way, shape or form. And there would have been meetings with police in the immediate aftermath to get their ducks in a row. So for me, whoever those people were, are quiet frankly scum.

Sheffield Wednesday also failed ****in miserably as an organisation to learn from a crush in 1981 in a game between Spurs and Wolves. And also, i think there was a similar incident in '88 where fans were allowed to watch a game sitting on the sidelines because of the volume of people crushed in the terrace behind them. So they must have known that it was unsafe.......but they were still happy to make a few bob out of the game.

So I put Sheffield Wed FC officials in a list of people / organisations that were both at fault for not preventing the disaster but also as part of the cover up afterwards. They are way below the SY Police, the government, and the FA, but they are on the list.

But to be honest I dont feel anything towards their fans. Wasn't their fault.

I don't think I could make the trip to Hillsborough for an away game though to be honest....

[Big-Red-Ed]

Spot on there. The club definitely have a share in the blame for not learning from serious incidents before 89. But there is no way the Wednesday supporters should feel any blame or shame. And I have never heard of any beef because of it. Infact it must be pretty ****ty to have your own club negatively associated with the disaster.
Good luck to them on Monday.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[shanks69]

Someone asked a similar thing on Facebook and I replied that I was there that day,but I will never go back to hillsborough if they come and if they do come I have no problem with it as they will have earned it so no problem I just won't go there.

[calvoboy]

I think it's probably just because it's been so long since they were up, and they're apprehensive after what's come out in the inquest findings. I worked in Sheffield for 14 years, and would be pleased to see Wednesday come up again. It's a proper football city, with decent crowds for both clubs.

Your neighbour forgets that they've been in the same league as us for years afterwards, and while we definitely have a grudge against their police, we've never to my knowledge held anything against their fans. I went to Hillsborough when we played them in 1998 (I felt I needed to go back, and it did help me though I wouldn't go again). The police and stewards were confiscating flowers at the turnstiles that year. We boycotted them after that for a couple of years until they agreed to put up a memorial. But again, that wasn't the fans.

Tell your neighbour not to worry.